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Max Verstappen says Red Bull will bring back its rotating rear wing on the RB22 for this weekendâs Hungarian Grand Prix, after the team removed it at Spa-Francorchamps over safety concerns. Verstappen said: "We assume that it has been resolved, but I obviously don't know that. They have carried out multiple tests and run further simulations. Hopefully it closes properly now. That is the goal."
Max Verstappen says more people are starting to see what he has warned for years is wrong with Formula 1âs 2026 regulations, and insists his concerns are about the quality of the racing rather than his own results. Verstappen said: "I've spoken my mind about these regulations already a long time. In the beginning most people were saying, 'ah, he's complaining, he should shut up'. But I have to say that the last few races, more and more people are seeing the same thing that I could see coming already a long time ago. And it's not about me not winning anymore, it's just because I care about the product."
Max Verstappen says Red Bull are on an âupwards trendâ and hopes they can âkeep that momentum goingâ at this weekendâs Hungarian Grand Prix after being encouraged by the teamâs recent improvements. Verstappen said: "It's been in general an upwards trend the last few races, so that's good to see. The season probably didn't start where we wanted it to start, so we're making nice improvements. We didn't start the season, I guess, how we wanted it to go, but we see an upwards trend. Hopefully we can keep that momentum going."
Fernando Alonso says he has âzero doubtsâ Aston Martin will âfix all the problemsâ and produce the best car on the grid, as the team brings a major upgrade to Budapest this weekend. Alonso said: "I think I have a pretty clear picture of the team that we will fix all the problems. They take time but I think I have no doubts, I have zero doubts that Adrian [Newey] will provide the best car on the grid sooner or later."
Fernando Alonso says Aston Martinâs new B-spec chassis for the Hungarian Grand Prix is unlikely to transform its position, because the teamâs recent deficit has been too large for any upgrade package to overturn. Alonso said: "There is no package in the world that will give you that amount of time and probably the position will not change, if you run the updated car in Spa one week ago. So, that's how we need to treat it. It will change circuit by circuit."
PlanetF1.com reports Honda will run its upgraded power unit on track for the first time in a Hungaroring filming day next week, bringing forward its timeline ahead of the previously targeted Dutch Grand Prix debut in race conditions for Aston Martin. Aston Martin is set to introduce its B-spec AMR26 chassis at this weekendâs Hungarian Grand Prix, with Hondaâs Shintaro Orihara saying: âHungary is a less sensitive track on the power side⌠We will see how fast the chassis is in corners.â
Lando Norris says he is staying patient before getting âtoo excitedâ about McLarenâs new upgrades for the Hungarian Grand Prix, describing them as the teamâs biggest step of the year so far. Norris said: "I'd say this upgrade is probably the biggest of the year by quite a long way, so we're hoping it's going to bring us a step [forward]. There's been a couple of bits this year that haven't worked exactly the same as we've expected or as we wanted, so I'm just being patient before I get too excited over anything."
Max Verstappen says there is ânothing going onâ regarding his Red Bull future and that his focus is on getting the most out of a âcomplicatedâ car, when asked ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix what the team needed to do to keep him. Verstappen said: "Feeling good. I am feeling good from my side. But I'm saying that there's nothing to say because there's nothing going on. For me, I'm just focused on trying to get the most out of the car. Like what I was explaining before, that's already complicated enough to deal with. That's what I'm just doing."
Lewis Hamilton says he âreally believesâ Ferrari can enable him to fight for an eighth world championship title this season, with the 41-year-old heading into this weekendâs Hungarian Grand Prix second in the standings behind Mercedesâ Kimi Antonelli. Hamilton said: "There's still a lot of work to do and still a mountain to climb ahead of us on the second half of the season but I'm more focused than ever and I really believe we can fight."
George Russell says Mercedes are confident they have identified and resolved the power-unit issues that affected him at Spa ahead of this weekendâs Hungarian Grand Prix. Russell said: "We're pretty confident we've got on top of the issues that we had in Spa and it should be easy to resolve. We hope and we think we have got on top of it, so feeling more positive. At the time we were not sure what it was but the team have worked so hard to really dig deep. Fingers crossed we hope the issue with the power unit has been resolved, but we'll find out this weekend."
George Russell says Mercedes has traced his recent struggles to a calibration issue rather than his driving style, after problems with energy deployment at Spa-Francorchamps. Russell said: "Effectively there were numbers on the screen that were not quite calibrated properly. So it's not like the hardware is wrong or there's a problem with the hardware. I think the deployment was not quite deploying optimally across the lap. But then on top of that, we had something separate. It was all linked to the same calibration being not quite right. We can rectify that, recalibrate things, and give the power unit performance at its full potential."
Lewis Hamilton says he is âworld's awayâ from the place he was at Ferrari a year ago heading into the Hungarian Grand Prix, adding he will explain what happened around that 2025 weekend in a future documentary. Hamilton said: "Definitely proud of everyone in the team, and also, I'm definitely proud of myself for digging myself out of the place that I was in. One day when I do my documentary I'll tell you all about that weekend and what led up into it. But to come from there, even coming into this week I felt a lot from last week, and I arrive world's away from where I was last year."
Carlos Sainz says his decision on whether to stay at Williams will depend on how quickly the team can âbounce backâ from its current struggles, with the Spaniard planning talks over the summer. Sainz said: "It depends on how quickly we manage to bounce back from this situation. Obviously I had in my mind a timeframe that I was willing to accept in order to help this team get back to a winning position. Clearly that timeline unfortunately is going to be longer than we expected. Having said that, I can see what the team is investing in the future. It still gives me confidence and motivation that we're going in the right direction. It's just that this year's car⌠has been underperforming."
Fernando Alonso says he needs to enjoy driving again before deciding whether to continue in Formula 1 beyond this season, as the Aston Martin driver weighs up his future with the team with his contract ending this year. Alonso said: "I am thinking I need to know what I do next year and the years to come. I feel fresh, motivated and fast but I need to enjoy what I do. Silverstone and Spa were not fun to drive. It is not fun to watch or drive. The direction we took this year is not the same adrenaline I had before from an F1 car. It is a problem (as to whether) F1 gives me the adrenaline I need to live."
Fernando Alonso said Adrian Neweyâs suggestion Aston Martin had not spent enough time listening to its drivers was âmore in the pastâ, adding that teams need to balance data with what drivers feel in the car. Alonso said: "To Adrian's comments, I think it's more in the past. Formula 1 is a very complex sport, very dynamic. It changes every lap. That's why data is not 100% the truth. I think you need to combine both things and Adrian has the best experience in the world to design a car and to develop a car, and I think we are in a good path."
Fernando Alonso says Aston Martinâs Hungarian Grand Prix upgrade is more about understanding the direction of its AMR26 than expecting it to close the kind of gap he experienced at Spa in a single weekend. Alonso said: "So there is no package in the world that will give you that amount of time, and probably the position will not change if we ran the updated car in Spa, so that is how we treat it. Hopefully, Budapest is a friendly circuit; power is not the most important thing, but we still have some deficits that we need to overcome. But I am more into understanding what the direction of the car is and whether we are on a good path?"
Pierre Gasly says the new Formula 1 power units are too inconsistent and are forcing drivers into compromises, as he backed Oscar Piastriâs criticism ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. Gasly said: "I fully agree with him. I think one is the inconsistency, because of how complex it is. One lap, you might gain a tenth and a half, and the other lap, for some reason, it doesn't quite come. And unfortunately, it means that there are places where you've got to do a compromise, whether you like it or not. So yeah, it's definitely not ideal."
đ Oscar Piastri on McLaren's upgrades: âI think we should be a bit more competitive, we have a few upgrades this weekend so hopefully that puts us a bit closer to being able to fight. They should be faster, that's all I care about. It's been tricky to drive all year, the last couple of weekends it has been a step harder to drive for whatever reason - layout, wind, type of [asphalt], I don't know.â On McLarenâs form: âI think we have been quite up and down as a team in general. Suzuka and Miami were our best two races, and in the first part of the year, we were doing a good job on what we needed to do. But I think since then, everyone else has brought a lot of upgrades, we have brought some. Not all of them have worked as expected.â ⪠Ollie Bearman on Haasâ form: âI was really happy with how we started this season, we had a really competitive car and we were fighting with Red Bull. We didn't suffer with any reliability issues or software issues in the first few events. âNow it has tailed off, we haven't scored points since Canada which is where we introduced our last upgrade package, and it hasn't brought the performance to the car we hoped. It's been a really long few months since Canada. In terms of execution we have got the most out of the car, I have got the most out of myself. But when the most in P14, P15 it starts to get a bit old.â đľ Isack Hadjar on his season so far: âI felt I was doing the easy things really wrong and the tough things - being close to Max - really right. It is a lot easier when the car is reliable and when it is performing. I would love to have a race where I can fight for a real podium, that is the next target. âI think there are a lot of things we don't understand on our car. Racing every weekend is not helping that, so hopefully when we come back in Zandvoort we will know more.â
đ˘ Fernando Alonso on Aston Martin's upgrade approach: âI don't think [the upgrades] change the approach - we go to every race to maximise what we have... I think for the first races, all the teams opted for the conventional strategy to bring two or three tenths per race. And then you end up a second ahead by the 10th race. âWe didn't do that, we opted to bring it all at once to catch up. I'm very proud of the team, what they have done to understand the problems since the Bahrain test.â On Aston Martinâs upgrade package: âHopefully Budapest is a friendly circuit for us, I'm more into understanding what is the direction of the car and if we unlock the potential.â On Aston Martinâs immediate future: âIt's not that I need answers. I have a pretty clear picture from the team that we will fix all the problems, it just takes time. I have no doubts that Adrian will provide the best car on the grid in time. Honda will fix the issues. How soon will the car be competitive... That is the question mark.â đľ Carlos Sainz on Williamsâ 2026 season so far: âI think I have been very open and very clear about the fact that in 2025 we over-delivered, and if anything the results were better than I expected when I signed my contract in 2024. I [hoped] we could stay where we were or do a small step forward, but time has proven to me it is the other way around. As a team we are more far off the top than we were in 2025.â On his expectations: âThere's no secret that my expectations, or my timeline of when I can win a race again has been delayed a year or two. I had in my mind a timeframe I was willing to accept to get this team back into a winning position, and how long I was willing to wait to win again. âAnd that timeline is going to be longer than expected. Having said that, I see what the team is investing in the future. This still gives me confidence and motivation that we are going in the right direction. It is just this year's car is underperforming and has fallen short of our expectations.â
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